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Ring of Honor
METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 12/21: Ciampa vs. Cedric Alexander main event, Elgin vs. Hanson, Brutal Burgers, Strong vs. Papadon

Dec 22, 2014 - 6:50:30 PM
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ROH TV Report
December 21, 2014
Taped 11/22 in Baltimore, Md.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch contributor


The ROH TV opening aired. For those wondering, it still includes former wrestlers Kevin Steen, Rhino, and Mike Mondo. ROH might want to make a resolution to freshen that up in 2015, especially considering that Mondo has not appeared in ROH throughout the entire 2014 calendar year!

Tonight: The two “loose cannons” of ROH are in action, as Tommaso Ciampa faces Cedric Alexander and Michael Elgin squares off against Hanson!

1 - RODERICK STRONG vs. PAPADON

Kevin Kelly built up Papadon as an international superstar and one of the most decorated amateur wrestlers in Greek history. Papadon spoke to the camera in his native tongue, as he walked to the ring. Strong got a quick nearfall during the opening sequence, but Papadon fought back and overpowered Strong for a few moments. Strong reversed with a kick to the face and then a backbreaker for another nearfall.

Papadon came back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a two count of his own. Papadon went for a suplex, but Roddy escaped and nailed Papadon with another kick. Strong went up top, but Papadon cut him off with a forearm, and then DDT’ed him to the mat for another two count. Papadon followed up with some kicks to the mid-section, but Roddy exploded with offensive strikes and then hit the End of Heartache for the victory.

WINNER: Roderick Strong via pinfall in 3:30.

ANALYSIS: Not exactly a squash, but a solid win for the newly-turned Strong. Roderick is such a natural babyface and an excellent wrestler in the ring. I would love to see him face off against Jay Lethal, Alberto El Patron (del Rio), and Adam Cole in 2015, but I’m sure the viewing audience will be treated to several contests against former Decade members first. On a side note, I love how Kevin Kelly talked up Papadon, who was essentially a jobber here. I really didn’t look at this as an enhancement match until the quick ending. (*1/4)

[Commercial Break]

As Hanson made his entrance for the next match, clips from “Glory by Honor XII” on November 15 were shown. Elgin, with the help of his new videographer, attacked his former allies during an in-ring promo.

Elgin came to the ring, followed by his videographer. The fans seemed to pop for him at first, but they quickly switched to boos. Elgin grabbed the microphone and said that his issue was not with the fans or the other wrestlers, his issue was with Ring of Honor. Elgin thought that the fans wanted to see a fight, so he dropped the mic and attacked Hanson.

2 - MICHAEL ELGIN vs. HANSON

The bell rang and both men exchanged blows. Elgin tried to take the big man down, but Hanson wouldn’t budge. Instead, Hanson sent Elgin to the outside. He went to follow up with a dive, but totally overshot Elgin. Hanson just acted like he hit it, though, and it must have worked because the fans started a brief “Hanson” chant. Back in the ring, Hanson charged at Elgin in the corner, but Elgin got his boot up. Elgin went on the attack, but Hanson cartwheeled out of the way and hit a huge clothesline on the former ROH champ!

Hanson went for his Spinkick of Doom, but Elgin caught him and hit a suplex, instead. Hanson rolled to the apron. Elgin followed and they traded blows in the corner, until Elgin hit Hanson with a kick. Hanson was draped over the second rope, which allowed Elgin to hit a somersault legdrop. Elgin followed up a big splash, but Hanson got the shoulder up! Elgin appeared shocked that he couldn’t put Hanson away. He grabbed Hanson, but the big man grabbed him right back and both men crashed to the floor!

They brawled on the outside for a bit, and then Hanson ripped up the padding on the outside. Elgin kicked Hanson in the face and then pulled up another section of the mats. Elgin went for a piledriver, but Hanson reversed into a backdrop on the concrete floor! Hanson grabbed a table from underneath the ring, but Elgin’s videographer jumped on his back. Hanson threw the videographer into the hockey boards, but the momentary distraction helped Elgin regain control. Elgin nailed Hanson with a double-arm DDT through the table., and the referee called for the bell.

WINNER: Hanson via disqualification in 6:20.

After the match, Elgin went over to the announcers and insisted that he would do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it. An angry Hanson got to his feet, but Elgin had high-tailed it out of there.

ANALYSIS: Just like at Final Battle, Elgin’s storyline is playing second-fiddle to Ciampa’s. Very uncharacteristic of ROH to use a cop-out finish, but it’s done so rarely that I can forgive them. ROH wants to keep both guys strong going into 2015, and that makes sense. I liked how Kevin Kelly explained that the videographer was there document Elgin’s case for a possible lawsuit against ROH, but it would have been nice if Elgin had some promo time to better explain both the videographer and his storyline in general. (*3/4)

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, the announcers recapped what just happened between Elgin and Hanson.

3 - BRUTAL BURGERS (“Brutal” Bob Evans & Cheeseburger) vs. CAPRICE COLEMAN & WILL FERRARA

As Coleman and Ferrara made their entrance, Kevin Kelly actually gave credit to the Decade for helping Coleman and Ferrara form an alliance. Kelly went on to say that there was a more organic system of veterans pairing up with rookies, thanks to the Decade’s antics over the last year. Cheeseburger did a funny bit where he flinched when the fans threw streamers at him. The teams shook hands and the bell rang.

Ferrara and Cheeseburger started the match. They chain wrestled for about a minute, until it ended in a stalemate. There was a brief “Cheeseburger” chant from the fans, and then Cheeseburger tagged in “Brutal” Bob. Evans applied a Fujiwara armbar, but Ferrara got away. Evans tagged in Cheeseburger, and then slammed his partner onto Ferrara for a two count. Coleman tagged in, and they double-teamed both Cheeseburger and Evans for a few moments.

Ferrara tagged back in. After a brief struggle, he duplexed Cheeseburger on the mat. Cheeseburger kicked out of the pin attempt and tagged in Evans. Ferrara immediately dove at Evans, but “Brutal” Bob caught him and slammed his arm down across his shoulder. He applied the Fujiwara armbar again, but Coleman came in to break it up. Evans threw Coleman to the outside and then Brutal Burgers double-teamed Ferrara in the corner. Coleman reappeared and began to deliver a series of Northern Lights suplexes to Evans. As Coleman was hitting the third suplex on Evans, Ferrara hit a German suplex on Cheeseburger. They did a spot where both Coleman and Ferrara covered their opponents at the same time. For some reason, Evans kicked out of Coleman’s pin attempt, but Cheeseburger didn’t kick out of Ferrara’s.

WINNERS: Caprice Coleman and Will Ferrara via pinfall in 4:55.

Coleman and Ferrara left the ring, while Evans appeared to be upset with Cheeseburger’s performance. Evans grabbed Cheeseburger by the neck, yelled at him, and then shoved him to the mat. Evans looked to immediately regret his decision, however, and helped Cheeseburger to his feet. Both men embraced and it looked like Evans would turn on Cheeseburger. He didn’t, though, and that was that.

ANALYSIS: There were some ugly moments during this match. Cheeseburger had some awkward timing in the beginning of the match. Coleman then had a hell of a time hitting his Northern Lights suplexes on Evans, who does not appear to be in the greatest shape. The finish summed up how “brutal” this match was, as the dual pins were just awkward and unnecessary. It looks like ROH is heading toward a “Brutal” Bob heel turn against Cheeseburger and, for some reason, I’m not very excited about it. (1/2*)

[Commercial Break]

Before the next match, clips were shown of Tommaso Ciampa attacking Cedric Alexander with a chair on ROH TV last month. Ciampa came down to the ring, pulled out several chairs from under the ring, and then threw them into the squared circle. Ciampa then entered the ring with a chair and offered a chair to Alexander. Cedric picked it up and the bell rang!

4 - TOMMASO CIAMPA vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER - No Disqualification match

Cedric immediately dropped his chair and kicked Ciampa instead, which forced Tommaso to drop his chair. They picked their chairs back up and dueled with them for a few moments. Cedric got the better of the exchange, and then attacked Ciampa in the corner. He dropkicked Ciampa to the outside and followed him, but there Ciampa gained the upper hand by throwing Alexander into the ring apron. Ciampa grabbed a chair from underneath the ring, but Alexander fought back and threw Ciampa back into the ring. Cedric then hit a 540 kick, which sent Tommaso back to the outside. Cedric went for a dive, but Ciampa threw a garbage can directly until Alexander’s face! The show went to a break at the 1:55 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 4:25, Ciampa was pulling Cedric’s face apart on the outside. Ciampa wrapped a chair around Cedric’s neck and then threw him into the ringpost. Back in the ring, Tommaso placed a garbage can over Cedric’s head and then delivered a series of running knee strikes to his opponent in the corner! Ciampa went for a cover, but Alexander kicked out. Ciampa left the ringside area for a moment and then came back with a piece of guardrail, but Cedric greeted him with a baseball slide which sent the guardrail directly into Ciampa! Cedric followed up and attacked Tommaso on the outside. Alexander threw a couple of chairs in the ring, and then threw a third chair directly into the Ciampa’s face!

Cedric rolled into the ring and then threw several chairs on top of Ciampa’s prone body. Alexander then just clobbered away on Tommaso’s arm with a chair! Cedric set up the piece of guardrail across a couple of chairs. He placed Ciampa on the guardrail and went up top, but Tommaso got up and cut him off. Ciampa went after Cedric up top, as the crowd chanted, “please don’t die!” Ciampa then hit a superplex onto the guardrail! The crowd exploded, as the show went to another commercial at the 11:00 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 13:00, Ciampa had pulled the ring skirt off of the apron. Cedric fought back with a kick, and then hit a running flip dive onto Ciampa on the outside! Ciampa rolled into the ring and was in perfect position for a frogsplash from Cedric! Alexander placed a chair on top of Ciampa and then hit another frog splash! Cedric sold the fact that he had just splashed directly into the chair like Rob Van Dam used to. Cedric got up and began to pull the padding out of the ring, which exposed the wooden planks below.

Cedric climbed atop Ciampa in the corner and choked him with a piece of the ring. Alexander essentially tied him to the corner by the neck and then hit him with three consecutive dropkicks. Referee Todd Sinclair finally released Ciampa from being choked. Somehow, Ciampa came right back and suplexed Cedric onto a steel chair! He got a two count before selling the fact that he was choking to death a moment earlier. Both men got to their knees and exchanged slaps. They climbed to their feet and continued to exchange slaps. Ciampa came out on top and set Cedric up on the top rope. Ciampa hit Cedric with a neckbreaker directly on top of the exposed wooden planks, and then covered Cedric for the victory!

WINNER: Tommaso Ciampa via pinfall in 18:00.

ANALYSIS: This wasn’t quite as “hardcore” as the main event of Final Battle, but I liked this match better. There were some questionable chair throws to the head, but this came across as a more athletic, updated version of the late 1990’s “garbage match.” It was strange that Nigel McGuinness would sanction a no-disqualification match when Ciampa is under a supposed “zero-tolerance” policy. I was also wondering where this side of Cedric was when he was feuding with the Decade earlier this year. Perhaps he learned that he needed to be more aggressive and there was also the beatdown by Ciampa last month, so I guess I’m okay with it. Definitely worth seeking this match out, if possible. (***1/2)

FINAL REAX: This show featured the ROH undercard, in a nutshell. There was the very good (Ciampa-Alexander), the not-so-good (Brutal Burgers), and the somewhere-in-between (Michael Elgin). My favorite aspect of this week’s show was Kevin Kelly, who did a great job of adding context and telling the stories of the lesser-known wrestlers. This was a step-up from the repeats ROH was airing after the Best in the World PPV, but they are essentially treading water until the January 3 TV taping in Nashville.


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